Manhattan Moments: Textiles, Film, & Food

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TEXTILES AS ART

Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction (MoMA)

Weaving by Stolzl, 1928

We headed to the Museum of Modern Art specifically to see a members’ preview of some delicate flower paintings.  That exhibit was unexpectedly closed, so we opted for the textile and fabric exhibit I had also noted.  Featuring 150 pieces, this exhibit spans creative works from the early 20th century to the present from Europe and around the world. It focuses on textiles or fabric as art, not just craft.

“Torcik (Cake)”, postcard of handwoven sweater by Otowska, 2010

 I was also drawn to some of the wall hangings and the various weaving techniques.

Detail of Anni Albers’ weaving
Cojin I-IV, Teresa Lanceta, 1999
“Fishnet” R. Wilson, 2011

VIEWING: WEST BANK DESTRUCTION

No Other Land (streaming available)

Winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary, No Other Land, is a graphic and personal account of the ongoing destruction and demolition of West Bank villages by Israeli soldiers from 2019-2023.  The West Bank on the Jordan River is one of two territories that comprise Palestine.  Filmed and told mainly from the perspective of Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval, it is heartrending, upsetting, and powerful.  

Over decades, Israeli soldiers have routinely targeted these mountainous villages (Masafer Yatta), bulldozing homes and a new school, threatening residents, and shooting at those who get in the way.  Residents are essentially captive in their villages; they need special permits to enter Israel and often don’t own cars, also subject to restrictions.  Basel Adra’s daring in shooting these scenes live is admirable, while the watching the tentative relationship between Basel and Yuval develop into a genuine friendship is heartening.  Highly recommended! 

DINING: YET ANOTHER ITALIAN RESTAURANT?

Il Gradino (Lexington near 62nd)

I’ll Gradino interior

While out walking, we happened on Il Gradino and decided to check it out.  The reviews were very good and so we booked.   It’s a small space with white tablecloths and polished service.  We began with two tempting specials, fried stuffed zucchini blossoms for me and artichokes Jewish style for the Chief Penguin.

Chicken cutlet

For entrees, I had a lovely chicken cutlet saltimbocca style with asparagus spears topping the prosciutto and cheese, while the CP enjoyed a large bowl of linguini cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper.)  It was a lovely meal with some different Italian dishes.  Another addition for our list of favorites!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo is a detail from “Shape-Up” (1976-77) by Alan Shields.

Manhattan Moments: Art, Books, Food

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FABULOUS FRICK!

Expanse of Frick courtyard

Frick, The Man & The Mansion

Many visitors to Manhattan are familiar with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, better known as MoMA, and also the Whitney Museum of American Art.  But not everyone knows the Frick Collection. It took us longer to discover this stately mansion and its art, but once we did, we became fans.

Henry Clay Frick was a 19th century financier and industrialist involved in the early years of the steel industry in Pennsylvania.  Andrew Carnegie was an occasional business partner, and he and Andrew Mellon became close friends.  Frick was also a serious art collector.  When in 1913, his business interests extended to New York, he built the lovely mansion at East 70th Street.  Today, the Frick is considered one of the finest collections of European art in the United States.

New Renovated Frick

Closed for almost five years for a major renovation and expansion, the Frick re-opened last month.  For the first time, the family’s second floor is open to the public.  These small rooms are now galleries showcasing more art, and a narrow corridor is lovely with walls and floor clad in pink marble.  A majestic green marble staircase was added to the building to provide a smooth flow of visitors from the upper floor down to the new shop and café level, and then on down to the main floor.

On the main level, we re-visited some favorite works.   Holbein’s paintings of Sir Thomas More on one side of the fireplace and Thomas Cromwell on the other, plus the looming Fragonard series, The Progress of Love, on the drawing room walls.  Lastly, we checked out the beautiful courtyard with its central fountain, the only area in which photos are permitted.

Frick courtyard fountain

The Frick was very crowded given the pent-up anticipation for its re-opening but is still a gem.  We look forward to returning at a quieter time.

ON THE PAGE:  COOKING BUSINESS

Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten

Garten (nytimes.com)

I own several of Ina Garten’s cookbooks.  I’ve also recently watched her on Facebook videos preparing chicken or fish.  One might think, given her wild success, that Garten’s life was always easy-peasy and comfortable.  Not so.  Garten held a series of often boring jobs after college.  She finally found her calling when she purchased her first Barefoot Countess store in Westhampton, Long Island.  Then she opened a second store.  Needing yet another challenge some years later, Garten tried her hand at writing a cookbook and later hosted her own TV show.

Garten’s style is bracing, frank, and even effervescent.  Her childhood was a difficult one, with parents who were controlling and emotionally abusive. She easily made friends at school, but her self-esteem suffered.  Fortunately, she met and married Jeffrey whose calm approach and supportive stance enabled her to take risks and buy the first store.  Impulsive and creative, Garten made mistakes along the way, some unwise investments and trusting her staff too much.  Throughout it all, she was determined and viewed obstacles as challenges to be overcome.

At times, her statements that she and Jeffrey didn’t have the necessary resources ring hollow against the backdrop of highly placed friends ready to recommend contractors and the ease with which they purchased expensive real estate.  Nonetheless, I found this an enjoyable fast-paced account of how to create your own success.  Recommended for Garten fans and food lovers! (~JWFarrington)

DINING FIND

Bayon (Upper East Side)

Bayon interior

Bayon is a new Cambodian restaurant on E. 64th Street just off 1st Avenue.  Ten years ago, the Chief Penguin and I spent a few days in Cambodia in Siem Reap visiting Angkor Wat. We enjoyed the food there, culinarily a cross between Thai and Chinese, but had never eaten in a Cambodian restaurant in the U.S.

We were pleased and delighted with Bayon. The space is attractive with highly polished wood tables and comfortable chairs with saffron-colored seats.  The wait staff were welcoming and helpful in their suggestions.  We started with some spicy fried fish cakes and cumin lamb dumplings, the latter beautifully presented on a glass snail plate. Both appetizers were delicious.  

Lamb dumplings

We then shared the basil rice stir fry with chicken and sampled a traditional rice corn pudding with coconut milk for dessert.  

Rice corn pudding

We zipped up the stir fry with some chili sauce, and the Chief Penguin enthusiastically tucked into the pudding.  Bayon is now on our list of preferred restaurants, and we hope to return soon.

Note: All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.). Header photo is of twisted cone sculptures on Park Avenue by Alma Alan.

Manhattan Moments: Seeing & Viewing

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AN ENDURING MAGAZINE

A Century of The New Yorker (New York Public Library)

New Yorker cartoon

Started in 1925 and still going strong after more than 5,000 pages, The New Yorker is a mainstay of the periodical world.  This major exhibit in the New York Public Library’s historic building at Bryant Park is informative, fun, and rich with examples of its distinctive style of writing and humor.  (Early in his career, our son worked at The New Yorker as a fact checker. This cartoon is for him and also for our older granddaughter.)

From a lighter worldview in its formative years, The New Yorker took on serious issues of the day as noted in this text from the exhibit:

“During the 1960s, Shawn ushered in a golden age of nonfiction writing at The New Yorker, one infused with the era’s ethos of activism and social change.

In short succession, the magazine published revelatory pieces on the political and psychosocial nature of race relations in the United States, the impact of industrial pollution on the environment and the human body, and the troubling legacies of Nazism. Recognizing their absence in the magazine’s pages, Shawn began publishing more contributors of color…“

Editors such as William Shawn and Tina Brown are cited, and milestones in publishing celebrated:  Ann Petry’s short story in 1958, the first by a Black individual, and John Hersey’s complete Hiroshima for the entire issue of August 31, 1946. Examples of playful and disgruntled correspondence between authors and their editors also have a place.   

There are photographs and much to read, but the hall is enlivened by a long line of colorful New Yorker covers at the ceiling above the exhibit.  Seeing the exhibit also offers an opportunity to experience some of this building’s grand architecture. 

Interior, NYPL
My Leo and one of those lions

 If you’re a fan of The New Yorker, the exhibit is definitely worth visiting and is on view until February 21, 2026!

BRITISH CRIME VIEWING

Towards Zero (BritBox)

Neville & Audrey (chicagotribune.com)

Towards Zero is a stand-alone Agatha Christie mystery. It’s quite different and yet retains some quintessential Christie hallmarks.  Set in the 1930’s, it’s in three parts and troubled Inspector Leach is the low-profile, low-key detective.   

Tennis champ Neville Strange is a wunderkind whose life has run smoothly until his wife Audrey divorces him for infidelity in a very public trial.  He quickly marries Kay, his paramour, and prepares to visit his aunt, Lady Tressilian, at her coastal estate.  His parents are no longer around and it’s clear Neville views himself as heir apparent.  Also on the scene are Mary, his aunt’s long-serving maid of all work; Mrs. Barret, the cook; Neville’s new valet Mac; lawyer Treves and his ward Sylvia; and Neville’s former wife Audrey, whom Neville invites to join them.  

Class distinctions and the disparity between the monied and the staff create tensions which are exacerbated with the mostly unexpected arrival of Thomas Boyde, a relative.  When a death occurs, and then another, Leach is called in.  True to form, all the principals are gathered in the drawing room to await Leach’s individual questioning and examination. The series moves slowly and deliberately without a lot of suspense initially, but I was kept guessing as to who the murderer was and the motivation.  Recommended for Agatha Christie fans. 

Note: Header photo outside NYPL and the literary lion one ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Other photos are from the exhibit or the source is noted.

On the Move: Spring to Budding Spring

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This post is a mix of comments from North Carolina, a recent novel, and a note about spring in Manhattan. 

DINING IN THE TRIANGLE

Taste Vietnamese Cuisine, Morrisville, NC

Big bowl of pho (tastevietnamese919.com)

The Chief Penguin and I regularly join the Adventurous Eaters group for lunch at a different restaurant each month.  Our area is home to a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, and it’s fun to explore a new place without having to navigate there ourselves.

Taste Vietnamese Cuisine is a small eatery that graciously accommodated our gang of twelve.  Menu offerings ranged from rolls to start—spring, shrimp, and summer ones; several choices of pho (Vietnamese soup with rice noodles and meat); sandwiches (banh mi); and entrees such as the Saigon Special which included a sample of almost everything!  

I opted for a straightforward and tasty chicken BBQ banh mi with the customary carrots, cucumber, daikon, and jalapeno slices, while the CP enjoyed chicken pho with bean sprouts and jalapenos.  Everyone was pleased with the food and appreciated the friendly service.  We’d happily return to try more dishes.

NEW FICTION: ON AN ENGLISH FARM

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Hall (amazon.com)

Broken Country is Clare Leslie Hall’s first book published in the United States.  She’s also written several thrillers published in the U.K. Set in rural North Dorset, England, this book’s bucolic setting masks the backbreaking work of life on a farm.  There are lambs to birth and always fences that need fixing.  Hall’s writing here is lovely and feels true.  

The novel moves back and forth in time from Before to the late 1960’s.  Beth and Frank and his younger brother Jimmy have known each other for years and been friends.  Gabriel, from a wealthy family, is a bit older and an aspiring writer.  He and Beth fall in love, and she hopes to join him at university when she’s of age.  

After their unexpected break-up, Beth agrees to marry farmer Frank and they have a son Bobby.  Some years later, Gabriel, divorced with a son of his own, returns to Dorset and he and Beth re-connect.  Her marriage is tested, tension builds, and there is violence and then a death.  

The book is told almost exclusively in Beth’s voice and from her perspective.  How can she be involved with two such very different men?  There are twists and turns in these very human relationships, some predictable, others not.  For me, the ending combined grace and forgiveness with resolution.  Broken Country is a Reese’s Book Club title. Recommended! (~JWFarrington)

ON TO THE BIG APPLE

As is our custom, we headed north to Manhattan a few days ago.  From gloriously blooming spring in North Carolina to early spring in New York.   The trees here have not yet fully leafed out and are mostly soft green.  Tulips abound in sidewalk beds and up and down Park Avenue.  Red, yellow, or pink, they are fully open, but not yet past their prime.  It’s a lovely time of year.

Note: Header photo of the soft colors of early spring in Manhattan by JWFarrington, tulips by GC.